One of the reasons I am so passionate about literacy and education, especially for children, is because of my experience growing up and the impact reading had on my life and the person I became. Maya Angelou put it best when she wrote, “When I look back, I am so impressed again with the life-giving power of literature. If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of myself in the world, I would do that again by reading, just as I did when I was young.”